Bjorn Erichsen's extraordinary attack on British Eurovision Song Contest commentator, Sir Terry Wogan has been picked up my several British media outlets. According to Erichsen, Wogan's comedic and ironic approach to the contest is wrong, and the British audience should be subjected to serious commentary to promote the quality of the competition. Today, he attempted to cool the storm by playing down the comments on BBC Radio Five.
According to a daily Telegraph report yesterday, Erichsen, Terry Wogan is a problem for Eurovision and makes the contest look "ridiculous". In a report in yesterday's Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom, he said: "The UK has double standards in the contest. It is something you love to hate. It's something to laugh at. It's something continental. It's a scam. It's ridiculous. The British like to distance themselves from it."
"Terry Wogan is a problem because he makes it ridiculous. I know he is very popular, and maybe that is the reason why a lot of people watch. But one day he will have to retire and the BBC will have to find someone else. It will be interesting to see if that attitude changes. The BBC gets a very large audience but it chooses to represent the Contest in a certain way. They take it far more seriously in Sweden. They have a genuine love and respect for it."
Mr Erichsen is reported to have raised his concerns with the national broadcasting corporation, who will be horrified at the prospect of a possible retirement from a man that has seemingly maintained and developed the popularity and viewing figures of the competition against all the odds, when figures have been plummeting across much of Western Europe.
In 2007, Verka Serduchka became the first non-victorious, non-British Eurovision Song Contest entry to successfully chart in the United Kingdom in 34 years. Viewing figures have been increasing despite the shift towards digital and satelite channels and the fact that so few singers are known in the UK.
Sweden's serious attitude towards the Eurovision Song Contest will see entertainer and commedian, Kristian Luuk commentating once again, and many of his comments have been seen as far more controvercial than Sir Terry's.
Terry Wogan's responce was swift, choosing to ignore the comments, he simply commented on the voting that provides the highest quality winner: "I would have predicted Russia to win, since everybody in the former Eastern Bloc is terrified of losing their oil and gas, but in the end, it will depend on who has got the most representatives in the final, the Baltic or the Balkans….And France, Germany, Spain and ourselves? We just pay for most of it, otherwise we'd never qualify for the final. If we'd only thrown the Cold War".
The comments came just one week after Mr. Erichsen rejected any investigation into the result of the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest result after it was alleged thatthe United Kingdom was cheated out of a second consecutivevictory.It was claimed by a Spanish television documentary thatGeneral Franco bought jury votes for Spain to ensure that Massiel won the competition. The story captured the British media and remained leading news for several days.
